Crowdfunding is increasingly used for market-research – not just funding, but also for marketing and market research. A recent example is C.H.Wolf (Glashütte), which is raising growth funds on the German Equity Crowdfunding Platform Bergfuerst. The campaign has attracted about 200.000 Euros of its 500.000 Euro goal.

C.H.Wolf is an usual company. It can reference a history of 170 years, but has been refounded only last year. Its owners are not Berlin-type Startup people but rather settled Mittelständler – medium-sized companies which often export their hiqh-quality products, but are not often on the mind of a typical startup journalist.

Interestingly, the campaign not only serves raising the funds, but also tries to achieve a number of marketing goals. The background of the company, well-know East German watchmaker town Glashütte, is displayed favorably, recent products such as the „Special Bootsmann“ (a high-end watch for Yacht Owners) is presented as well. Some form of preselling is also evident – for every 7.000 Euros invested, investors can buy a Special Edition Watch for 2000 Euros.